


Alone with her thoughts.

by BarPurple



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Honesty, Magic, Mild Language, Mirrors, Self-Acceptance, Sleeping Curse, Spells & Enchantments, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-06 03:52:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6737068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle was expecting to be alone while she was in the netherworld of the sleeping curse. In a way she is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It wasn’t quite like falling asleep, but at least there was no pain; just a strange dropping sensation, as if she’d missed the bottom step of a staircase. She was ready for the mirror lined room, and distractedly wondered if this was where the old tradition for placing the ashes of witches in a mirror lined box originated.

“Belle! Belle, oh no Belle, why?”

Rumple’s voice reached across the realms and twisted her heart, he sounded so broken and desperate.

“Well that is exactly what you wanted wasn’t it?”

Belle’s head snapped around as she sought the source of the voice. One of her reflections waved back at her.

“Wow, only been here five minutes and I’m already talking to myself.”

The independent reflection rolled its eyes and huffed. 

“Yes, I am. Look, maybe this will help.”

The glass shivered and Belle was no longer looking at herself as she was in this moment. She was eye to eye with an image from her past.

“Lacey?”

“Yup, I think it’s time I had an honest conversation with myself.”

Belle back away, in the mirrors a hundred Belles copied her movements, but the one now wearing a skin tight sparkly blue dress just put her hands on her hips and cocked a disbelieving eyebrow at her.

“I can’t run from myself, not here,” Lacey frowned, “Pronouns are going to get confusing aren’t they? Right I’m me and you are you, but we are the same person, okay?”  
Belle shook her head and pointed an accusing finger at Lacey.

“You are not me. You’re just some fragment of Regina’s curse.”

“No I’m not. Come on, I know you’ve thought about this! Even if she could, Regina doesn’t have the imagination to create whole new personalities for everyone in town. The curse just amplified some traits and suppressed others.”

Belle found herself nodding, she had considered this. Everything she knew and had seen of magic suggested that it was impossible to completely rewrite a person, even Isaac had only managed to flip things around a bit, but he’d had to work with what was already there; exaggerating Snow’s touch of darkness, giving her control of Charming’s heart to bend him towards evil. Bringing the good man in Rumple to the surface, but even then he’d still made wrong choices and attempted to kill Regina.

“Oh, don’t give me that crap! In that twisted up book Rumple did exactly what he needed to, exactly what you would have asked him to if he’d told you about the rock and the hard place he was between.”

Belle’s face looked shocked, but her heart wasn’t it in; “I never would have asked him to kill Regina!”

Lacey laughed at her; “Yes, you would have, because I would have and I am you.”

“So Regina just brought you to the surface, but you’ve always been a part of me?”

“Yes. You know that. I’m the part of you that you suppress the part always wanting adventure, bucking against those dreary rules about what makes a proper lady, always fancying a bad boy.”

It was Belle’s turn to huff and roll her eyes, “A bad boy like Gaston?”

“Gods no, he was an oaf. Brutal, but blinded by his sense of honour,” Lacey sneered over the word as if it had offended her, “Beating up that little ogre served no purpose, it was just Gaston waving his dick around to impress the nobles. Idiot; and look at all the bloody trouble it caused.”

That was true; there had been a peace of sorts between Avonlea and the Ogres until Gaston’s stunt with the ogre child. Her father and his council had considered it the actions of a hero, but it had repulsed Belle.

“Of course it did. It was stupid and suicidal. You’ve never wanted a hero.”

Belle chewed her lip, weakly she tried to dispute Lacey’s claim; “A hero is what every well-born lady dreams of.”

“The Dark Swan gave you that on a platter and you shoved it away. Rumple’s heart was as pure as they come, he’d pulled Excalibur from the stone and rescued you from a great big bear, but you couldn’t stand to touch him, couldn’t stand the sight of him. You had the man you’ve always claimed you wanted and you ran so fast your shoes almost caught fire,” Lacey leant forward, “You don’t want a hero and it’s about bloody time you admit that, because all of this pissing around is making us miserable.”

Lacey dropped to the floor of her mirror with a flounce and sat glaring at Belle with her arms folded across her chest. Belle took a deep breath and considered her alter-ego’s words. A wry smile twisted her lips as she realised just how appropriate the phrase ‘alone with her thoughts’ was at the moment. She settled herself on the floor and thought.

Silence descended for a while.

“What do you mean I got what I wanted?”

Lacey tipped her head up and looked at Belle; “You know exactly what I meant.”

“Maybe I need to hear it.”

Lacey heaved a dramatic sigh and started in a sing-song voice; “You wanted Rumple focused on saving the bun in our oven. With you walking around Hades would try to pull another Gaston stunt and all that would distract Rumple from getting us out of here and out of the contract. I admit going to Zelena of all people was a touch of evil genius,” Lacey paused for breath and took a quick glance at Belle, she was listening hard, “If you’d gone to the heroes for help they would have given you some half arsed pretty words about helping you, but done nothing of use. Zelena was the perfect choice to get what you wanted and twist the knife we have in Rumple’s heart.”

Belle shot her a look of affronted distaste; “Oh for fuck’s sake, don’t look at me like that. You went to the woman who killed his son and tortured him into madness for help. That’s going to sting him just a little bit and you knew that.”

Lacey had been expecting a high and mighty denial, but it didn’t come, instead Belle sighed and nodded slowly; “You’re right. I wouldn’t admit it to myself at the time, but I knew what I was doing by going to Zelena. I knew it would hurt him, make him doubt himself so he didn’t try to wake me with True Love’s kiss straight away.”

“Do you really think Father will wake us up from this?”

Belle gave a cold laugh and hugged her knees like a little girl, “Father will fly into a rage when he finds out about the baby; probably disown me on the spot and come up with some stupid plan to send me across the town line, to save me from myself.”

Lacey shrugged; “He might not, his kiss might work. That depends on you.”

“How? Why?”

“If you’re going to carry on trying to be a perfect, good little princess, Father’s kiss will work, but you’ll be bloody miserable and spend the rest of your life battling against Rumple over the kid. If you finally get your head on straight and embrace the fact you’ve got a dark streak then Rumple can wake you and you’ll get a happy life. If he forgives you for all the shit you’ve put him through.”

Belle fell quiet again. Lacey was right; Rumple had never done anything to hurt her, oh he’d lied to her, but he’d always had reasons for that; the main cause of his lies had been him trying to live up to the ridiculously high standard she’d set for him. She had no-one to blame but herself for those occasions, and it felt good to be able to admit that to herself. On the other hand she’d done him so many wrongs; using the Dagger on him to help her fix the mess she’d caused with Anna.

“Actually I think he’ll forgive you for that one. It was the sort of thing he’d do.”

Belle gave a slight nod of acknowledgement at Lacey’s interruption, but didn’t say anything; she was too busy remembering banishing Rumple across the town line. He’d been so scared, she’d wanted to let him run to her and wrap him in her arms, but that voice in her head that had been drilled into her since she was a little girl shouted her instincts down, just like it always did when it came to Rumple. _A hero would banish the Dark One. A hero would cut him off from his powers. A hero would save the town and the town would be grateful._ Belle snorted to herself, Storybrooke was never grateful when she reigned in Rumple’s murderous side, they only came calling when they needed something and then were only grudgingly thankful when he pulled their arses out of the fire. Not one of them had come looking for her when Merida had kidnapped her, not one of them would care that she was missing now. They all looked upon her as a poor, deluded little girl, who needed saving from the foolish mistake her heart had made.

“The only mistake I need saving from is thinking that I need to change Rumple to get my happiness,” Belle glance up at Lacey who was kneeling forward, right on the edge of her frame now, hope burning in her blue eyes as she watched Belle’s epiphany dawn. Belle took a deep breath and continued, “It’s me who needs to change. I need to shed all the fairy tale nonsense I was feed as a child and accept who I truly am.”

Lacey licked her lips and carefully asked; “And who is that?”

Belle grinned at her, at herself, “I am Belle. I love the Darkest of Dark Ones and I’m fine with that.”

Lacey’s whoops of joy echoed around the mirrored room and were joined by Belle’s laughter. Rumple’s voice reached them in the midst of their joy.

“It's me, Belle. It's time for me to fix this. I know how you would want me to do it, how you would want me to use light magic, but I can't. I'm sorry, Belle. I really don't want to let you down, but there's only one way to save our child. I have to do things my way now.”

Belle shared a smile with Lacey, who was acting like a real reflection, in so far as the look of pride on her features. Her True Love was going to do what he did best, and gods above and below wouldn’t be able to stop him, or help any who stood in his way.

“It’s a shame we won’t be awake to see him in action.”

“Oh it’ll be amazing. Rumple is backed into a corner now and he always comes out swinging. Hades, the heroes, the whole Underworld isn’t going to know what’s hit it.”


	2. In the Shadow

Being under a sleeping curse wasn’t all that bad. Belle had read accounts of those who had been woken, and talked a little with Aurora about the experience. The Sleeping Beauty had been clear that it was an awful, desperate and lonely situation that she wouldn’t wish on anyone. Belle hadn’t quite believed her about that, the daughter of Briar Rose appeared to have inherited her mother’s tendency to hold a grudge. She still gave Snow and Emma hard looks on occasion.

“Her people left her body alone in the courtyard of her castle. No bloody wonder she was lonely.”

Lacey was right. The curse wasn’t that bad while she could hear Rumple’s voice. He spoke about the progress of the heroes in their attempt to rescue Hook, which was interesting, but she preferred it when he talked about the items in the shop, his surprise at the number of things that had crossed into the Underworld. In those moments it was as if they were back in the Dark Castle. There were times when he paused and Belle could almost see him frowning slightly, she half expected him to send her off to dust something, or fetch them tea. 

And of course she had Lacey. Didn’t they say talking to your self was a sign of madness? Her alter-ego snorted; “According to what ‘they say’,” Lacey made sarcastic air quotes around the words, “We crossed into madness years ago, honey. Besides, I don’t think we’re mad.”

Belle raised her eyebrows at that statement as Lacey grinned at her. It shouldn’t have been reassuring, but it was and Belle left it at that. They both looked towards the mirrored ceiling as Rumple’s voice crossed the void to them.

“I’ve got a plan in motion, sweetheart. I doubt you would approve. It appears our mutual wicked acquaintance has found a suitor in the form of Hades. Where there’s love there’s leverage. An opportunity arose so that Papa will get his heart’s desire this way too. It’s strange working side by side with Papa, double trouble for everyone, still it’s nice not to be jumping at shadows.”

A tingling in her fingers and made Belle think that Rumple had just squeezed her hand.

“I’ll be back soon, sweetheart.”

Belle and Lacey heaved a sigh in unison.

“Do you get the impression our man thinks he’s being watched by Peter Pan’s Shadow?”

Belle nodded and bit her lip while she went over Rumple’s words in her head; of course that was Lacey’s head as well, so it wasn’t surprising that the party girl persona started listing the notable points.

“Kidnap Zelena to force Hades to tear up the contract?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Peter Pan’s heart’s desire is to leave the Underworld. Think Rumple’s going to perform a little heart transplant for his dear papa?”

Lacey mirrored Belle as she began to pace back and forth.

“A living heart is the only way he can leave the Underworld. I wonder whose he is planning on taking. Rum said double trouble. He knows that Pan will try to double cross him.”

The grin was obvious in Lacey’s voice as she said; “So Rumple with double cross him first.”

“I think I know how, a rose, Gaston. Rumple’s going to throw his father into the River of Lost Souls.”

Lacey eyed Belle thoughtfully. Belle said she was happy to embrace the darkness in herself, but this was the first real test of that intention; “You okay with that?”

Belle chuckled mirthlessly and ran her hand across her stomach; “This kid is going get one problematic grandfather from our side. That’s enough don’t you think?”

“The worst Moe could do is huff and puff. Peter Pan would blow the house up and leave a smoking crater in the ground, just for fun.”

Belle’s chin jutted forward, her habitual gesture of stubborn defiance.

“And that is why I have no problem with him following Gaston into the river.”

Lacey smiled at herself. It had taken a long time, but Belle’s head and heart were finally on the same page. The heroes would be shocked, but screw them; the ultimate destruction of Peter Pan was a public service and a far better deed than some of the shady things they had done in their quest for their happy endings.

The light in the chamber dimmed, Belle felt something shudder through her.

“What was that?”

Belle moved closer to Lacey’s mirror, thankfully that the chamber was bare, in the new low light she was sure she would have tripped over unseen furniture. She gripped the frame of the mirror and stared at Lacey. She looked as if she was wearing a dark gauzy veil.

“Pan’s Shadow.”

Lacey didn’t speak, but she communicated her frustration to Belle via some choice and colourful thoughts. The idea formed between them that with the Shadow covering them Rumple wouldn’t be able to touch their lips for True Love’s Kiss. He wouldn’t be able to see the damn Shadow and would think that his love for Belle wasn’t returned.

“Good gods, that will break him.”

The malicious chuckle of the Shadow filled the chamber. Well, at least that confirmed that it could only hear them when they spoke aloud. A clear picture formed in Belle’s mind of the Shadow fleeing from fire and that was something a weapon they had here, if they could get to it. Lacey’s lips twisted into a hard smile, she kicked her shoe off and scooped it from the floor. The heel on Lacey’s shoe was spiked and longer even than the ones Belle wore. With a tight nod Belle copied her alter-ego and gripped her own skyscraper heel in her hand. Lacey winked.

“In case of emergency break glass!”

Belle and Lacey swung their lethal heels at the mirror; the glass didn’t stand a chance. Spider web cracks radiated from two points, creaking rapidly across the surface of the glass. For an incredibly tense second the glass held, then exploded out and Belle dropped through the floor.


	3. Into the Fire

Falling through the shattered floor into the red room below did hurt. At least the landing did, Belle was glad she thought to kick off her other shoe, her ankle would have been in much worse shape if she’d landed on her high heel before toppling over. She curled protectively, her arms around her head as mirror shards rained down. Once the shattering sounds ebbed to the odd tinkle Belle raised her head. There was a piece of mirror the size of her hand directly in front of her, from the glass Lacey gave her a tight lipped smile. Belle replied with a single nod, they both knew what had to happen now.

She could feel Pan’s Shadow tugging her backwards away from the flames. There was an air of panic in the demon’s actions that Belle took courage from, and before her own fear could cripple her Belle lurched forward and thrust her arm into the flames. The howl that erupted in the room was bone chilling. The Shadow hurled itself from Belle’s body with such force she almost fell forwards into the fire. She managed to roll to the side and crawl into a corner. The howl subsided into whimpering sobs.

“That’s you crying, the Shadow’s gone.”

Lacey’s voice sounded calm, even though she had to shout over the roaring flames. Belle took a shuddering breath. If Lacey was calm, then she could be as well, or she should be already since Lacey was her. The strangeness of her current situation gave her something to focus on and slowly her crying slowed to the odd sniffle. The flames rose higher, brighter and hotter now the Shadow was gone. Belle cringed back into her corner, her knees drawn up to her chest in an attempt to shield her unborn child from the nightmare of this place.

“Remember what Rumple took Henry about this place!”

“If you control the dream you no longer will fear it.”

But Henry had the pendant from Rumple to focus on; he’d only been in a normal sleep and could wake up from this horror. She was stuck here until Rumple woke her and who knew how long that would be. Fear and panic rose within her, intensifying the pain in her twisted ankle and burnt arm. The flames roared higher, the fire was destruction waiting to consume her. Suddenly Belle’s mind was flooded with images of Rumple as the world saw him, an evil force feeding on weakness, desperation and fear. For every image of the Dark One at his worst there was one of how she saw him, the thoughtful man who gave her a library, and the shy man who to this day looked stunned every time she hugged or kissed him, the playful man whose quick witted quips brought a smile to her face.

“Rumple is like the fire, it’s a matter of perspective.”

Belle caught sight of Lacey in the nearest mirror shard and smiled at her. She was right, fire could be all consuming and destructive, but it could also bring warmth and light.

“I don’t fear the Dark One. I will not fear the fire.”

At her confident words the fire receded, the roaring flames became gentle, crackling softly filling the chamber with soft dancing shadows. 

“Just like the fire in the Great Hall back home.”

Belle smiled to herself, it occurred to her that when she thought of home she always pictured the Dark Castle, with Rumple spinning at his wheel as she read her latest book to him. As if called by her thoughts Rumple's voice reached her ears.

“Belle, sweetheart, we’re back in Storybrooke, the real one. I’ve summoned your father. He’ll be here soon. Once you’re awake we need to have a talk about the future, about our child.”

Even though Rumple couldn’t see her Belle nodded in agreement. They did have a lot to talk about and but plans for the future would have to wait. First she had to apologise for the past.


	4. Awake

Rumple was pacing nervously back and forth across the back room of his shop. He hadn’t been this worried when he’d pushed the glamoured wineskin into Papa’s chest. He’d known that would end Peter Pan for good, there was no coming back from the River of Lost Souls, becoming a patricide apparently was easier the second time around not that many people would get the opportunity to discover that. The exact whereabouts of Pan’s Shadow was still a concern, but that wasn’t a priority right now. The only thing that mattered at the moment was waking Belle up, and that’s why he was wearing a track in the floor waiting for Moe French to arrive. Did the man not understand the phrase ‘right now’? His eyes fell on Belle as he turned on his heel at the far side of the room. She looked peaceful tucked under the warm blanket, but different here in the real world; she was brighter somehow. Rumple shook his head; it was probably just because everything here looked brighter without the weird red tinted light of the Underworld.

Finally the bell over the door announced Moe’s arrival. Rumple stroked Belle’s hair; “Your father is here, sweetheart, you’ll be up and about in a moment.”

He jerked forward a little, but held himself back. There was no point him kissing her; he’d already proved that she didn’t welcome the gesture. Those people who were sure the heart of the Dark One was nothing but a cold hard lump would have been surprised to see the tears that Rumple hurriedly dashed from his eyes as he rose to greet Moe.

In the fiery netherworld of the sleeping curse Belle held her breath.

“Breathe. Even if it’s Papa’s kiss that wakes us, we’re still the woman who loves Rumplestiltskin.”

Belle gave Lacey’s reflection a tight lipped smile. The party girl nodded back from the large shard of mirror. 

“Will you still be with me when we wake?”

Lacey grinned; “I’ve always been with you. I am you remember. I don’t know if we’ll ever talk like this again, but I’m always there Belle.”

Belle’s smile became easier. This is who she was, a little dark, possibly a little crazy and whole heartedly in love.

For the first time in her life Belle didn’t feel like she was being pulled in two different directions, oddly enough she felt whole.

 

“What’s this about Gold? Where’s Belle? The Blue Fairy said she fell into a portal.”

Rumple waved a hand towards Belle’s sleeping form. Moe stared at his only child, but made no move towards her which surprised Rumple a little. Maybe it was just because to get to Belle the man would have to brush past him, yes that must be it Moe didn’t want to get to close to his son-in-law. Rumple took a few steps back, but Moe didn’t shift.

“She’s did, to the Underworld, but I brought her home. Now you need to wake her up.”

“A sleeping curse? What did you do to her, you Beast?”

Rumple heaved a sigh and tried to control his temper. He’d imagined that Belle would be awake by now; this would be so much easier if she were here to soothe her father and explain things.

 

“She did this to herself, to protect our unborn child.”

Moe boggled at him. For a split second Rumple felt empathy for the man, he’d been a little dumbstruck when he’d found out he had a grandson. His tone was gentle as he said; “You’re going to be a grandfather Maurice.”

Rumple had thought it was surprise that had paralysed the man, but when Moe turned to him again his eyes were cold and hard.

“She’s carrying your spawn.”

Rumple bristled at that, he had no problem with any of the names the world levelled at him, but it wasn’t right that his child should be slurred before it was even born.

“We are married. It was always possible that we’d have a child. A grandchild for you.”

Rumple hated repeating himself, but past experience had taught him it was often the only way to get an idea through Maurice’s thick skull. He inclined his head toward Belle.

“Now if you’ll wake her with a kiss we can start choosing colours for the nursery.”

Moe slowly shook his head; “I thought’d she changed you. You were a hero, but Snow White’s told us the truth of the matter. You’re the Dark One again, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Belle knows that.”

The smug smile on Moe’s face caused Rumple’s knuckles to prickle with magic.

“That’s why you need me to wake her. My little girl has finally seen you for the Beast you are.”

Rumple ground his teeth together and barely managed to part them enough to snarl; “Just wake her up.”

Moe squared his shoulders; “No. I’ll not see her bring your evil spawn into the world. She’s better off where she is.”

The gossamer thin thread that had been restraining Rumple’s temper snapped. He lunged forward, his hands clawing at Moe’s thick neck. The momentum of his attack slammed Moe into the wall, his head connecting with the plaster with a sickening thump. Rumple’s snarling face was mere inches from Moe’s fearful one.

“She’s your only child. She’s carrying your only grandchild. Wake. Her. Up.”

The last three words were punctuated by Rumple slamming Moe’s head against the wall. The man sagged in the Dark One’s grip and slid to the floor. Rumple let him drop. He loomed over the bleeding man.

“Have you ever cared for her? You let me take her and didn’t raise a rescue. That puffed up fool Gaston came for her alone. You tried to banish her to a world without magic. And now you’d leave her cursed forever. What father treats his only child like that?”

Moe raised a shaking hand to the back of his head, his fingers came away bloody.

“A father who has always known his daughter has evil in her soul. Why else would the ogres have spared her when they killed my wife?”

Rumple staggered backwards away from the contemptable excuse for a man.

“You blame Belle for her mother’s death? You don’t truly love your own daughter.”

Rumple almost laughed as the enormity of his discovery sank in; Moe didn’t love Belle.

“You’re no use to me, or her.”

Rumple flicked his wrist, a cloud of red-gold smoke engulfed Moe who didn’t have time to cringe as the magic hit him. The smoke cleared and where the pathetic man had been there stood a cheery, red hatted garden gnome. A manic laughter bubbled from Rumple’s mouth as he looked at the tacky ornament.

“Ugly in any form, aren’t you dearie?”

The laughter caught in his throat and turned into sobs, Rumple knees gave out and cracked against the hard wood floor. He curled in to a ball, sobbing uncontrollably, drowning in hopelessness. He couldn’t wake Belle. He’d never meet their child. With gulping breaths he fought for control, the darkness within him was straining to break free, desperate to destroy the world in his rage and despair. On his hands and knees he crawled across the floor to Belle’s bedside. At some point during his tussle with her worthless father the bed had been bumped, one of her hands had slid from under the blanket. Kneeling at her side he took her small hand in both of his, his thumbs rubbing gently over her the lines of her palm; which one of those predicted this fate for her?

“I tore the realms apart to get to Bae. It took so very long, but I did it, Belle. I promise that I will not rest until I find a way to wake you. We will see our child born, I swear.”

He sealed his oath by pressing his lips to her palm. The pulse of magic that accompanies True Love’s Kiss is not a powerful force, but the sensation of it washing over him was enough to knock Rumple on his arse.

“Belle?”

With a deep inhale Belle’s eyes fluttered open.

“Rumple.”


	5. Together

“Belle?”

She sat up with a wince and shoved the blanket away from her, the burn on her arm had travelled back with her soul from the sleeping curse, but a quick wiggle of her toes informed her that the twisted ankle hadn’t. That was odd. Rumple was sprawled on the floor staring at her with wide panicked eyes. He scrambled forward as he saw her blistered skin, but stopped just before he touched her.

“What happened?”

“I had to stick my arm in the fire to get rid of Pan’s Shadow.”

“Fire? Shadow?” Rumple closed his eyes for a second, when they opened again he was more composed. He pointed at her arm.

“Will you let me heal this, Belle?”

“If you would, please.”

Slowly he traced his open hand over the angry burn. Belle sighed as the pain vanished leaving only a tingle of his magic in its wake. She caught Rumple’s fingers in her hand before he could pull away. His eyes widen again as he watched her thread their fingers together, when he looked up at her she saw only confused hurt in his whisky brown eyes. It stabbed at her heart, she was rushing this, he didn’t understand yet, but she took it as a hopeful sign that he was reluctant to withdraw his hand.

“Tell me about Pan’s Shadow.”

It wasn’t where she’d wanted to start this conversation, but it was the biggest danger, so it made sense to get it out of the way.

“Pan’s Shadow attached itself to me; it sort of covered me, like a veil. I knew that would stop True Love’s Kiss from working,” She spotted a glimmer of relief cross Rumple’s face; he had tried to wake her and failed. Belle squashed her anger at Pan and continued; “We broke the mirror with our shoes to get to the red room with the fire. The Shadow didn’t like that, but to get it off me I had to stick my arm into the flames.”

Rumple laughed, and there was a touch of admiration in his eyes now.

“You were under a sleeping curse and you defeated Pan’s Shadow. That’s amazing.”

“Where is the Shadow? We’ll need to catch it.”

She was sad that he let go of her hand now as he stood up and took the few steps to his workbench. From the midst of the organized clutter he plucked a familiar box. It hung from his fingers as he toyed with it.

“I put you in here, to keep you safe while I brought you home. I think you were in here when you battled with Pan’s Shadow. So that’s where it is now, trapped.”

Belle watched Pandora’s Box as it tilted between his fingers, the red jewels set on the top catching the light that reminded her a little too much of the fires in that damned netherworld. She suppressed a shiver and said; “That worked out even better than we’d hoped.”

The box stilled in his fingers.

“We? Who was in there with you Belle?”

“Lacey. So I suppose no one was with me as such.”

The legendary box was careless flung back onto the workbench and Rumple drew a chair over to the bed.

“You were talking to Lacey? As a separate person?”

Belle’s nose scrunched as she tried to line her thoughts up.

“She was in one of the mirrors. I think it’s like when you hear the voices of the former Dark Ones,” The thought occurred to her that an echo of Emma and Hook must be lurking in Rumple’s mind now, she shoved it away, she could always ask him later, “It didn’t feel like a dream, not a normal one at least. Does that sound crazy?”

A slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and he shook his head slowly; “No that doesn’t sound crazy to me,” He gave a one shoulder shrug, “Other people might have a different opinion.”

Belle huffed, “I don’t care what other people think. It’s only what you think that matters to me.”

Rumple looked stunned and Belle realised that she was still getting ahead of herself, trying to avoid the difficult moment of begging his forgiveness. _No time like the present. Get on with it._ She bit her lip to hide her smile the voice in her head caused, that was Lacey still with her and able to keep her right even now. She took a deep breath.

“Can you forgive me Rumple?”

“For cursing yourself?”

“For everything. For the sleeping curse, for banishing you from town, for controlling you with the dagger, for pushing you away when your heart was lily white, for everything I’d done when I was stupid enough to try and live by the fairy tale nonsense I was brought up on.”

She paused for a breath and took a second to examine his face. It was a perfect blank mask, nothing to give her a hint to how he felt about her words. With a hastily drawn breath she plunged on.

“Talking with Lacey helped me sort my head out. My whole life I’ve felt like I was being pulled in opposite directions, trying to be what the world expected of me on one side and wanting to follow my instincts one the other. I never understood how much I hated feeling like that until now, and I’ve constantly put you in the same position, tried to make you a storybook hero because I thought that’s how True Love should work. I was wrong. It’s done nothing but make us both miserable and put us in danger. That isn’t going to happen anymore. We have our child to think of and the bloody heroes are like to cause enough problems, so I can’t be stupid anymore.”

She had to stop to gasp in a breath. The look Rumple was giving her was one of weary resignation.

“Our love has made you unhappy.”

He sounded small and sad; Belle shifted to the edge of the bed and wrapped his hand in both of hers. He didn’t resist her, his hand lay limp in hers.

“Only because I’ve been an idiot and tried to change you. I’ve acted like an ungrateful, spoiled brat, thinking I wanted something else instead of letting myself love the man you are. I was the one who need to change. I love you Rumplestiltskin, darkest of Dark One, kindest of men. I love you.”

He pulled his hand from her grasp and dropped his head into his hands. His fingers pulled at his hair as he struggled to find the words he needed. 

“Belle. I want to believe you. I want to forgive you, but…”

She swallowed the hard lump in her throat and nodded.

“But you doubt me, because I’ve said things like this before only to repeat my mistakes and hurt you again.”

Tears were gathering in Rumple’s eyes as he nodded at her. She needed to give him something, something that he could believe.

“Can you pull the sleeping curse memories from my mind with a dreamcatcher?”

“Yes.”

“Then do it. I can’t convince you with my words, but maybe if you see my memories you can start to trust me.”

A twirl of his hand caused a dreamcatcher to appear. Belle took a slow breath and made herself relax.

“This won’t hurt.”

“Okay.”

She closed her eyes and waited. It took a moment but she felt a prickle of magic tug at her mind. It was a mildly unpleasant sensation but she didn’t fight it. She kept her eyes closed until she heard Rumple sob. There were flames in the circle of the dreamcatcher; he was watching her get rid of Pan’s Shadow. His face hardened as he watched her listening to her father’s harsh words. The magic faded as the memories reached the point where she’d been brought back.

Rumple waved the dreamcatcher away. Emotions she couldn’t describe were battling across his features. Guilt won the day and Belle frowned as Rumple got to his feet. He bent by the far wall and picked something from the floor. With his back to her she couldn’t see what it was.

“I’m sorry you heard what Moe had to say. I’m afraid I didn’t take his words very well.”

Rumple turned round and Belle smothered her laughter when she spotted the cheery ceramic gnome in his hands.

“That’s my father?”

“Yes. I can turn him back.”

He moved to put the gnome on the floor, but stopped when Belle said; “No. Leave him like that, until the baby is born at least.”

“What?”

She’d shocked him, but she was sure this was the right thing to do. That her father blamed her for her mother’s death and had always thought it was a sign of evil in her had hurt. She wasn’t sure how she felt about him at the moment and leaving him as a gnome wouldn’t improve his opinion of her, but she found she honestly didn’t care. There was one thing that she did need to know.

“Is he in pain?” Rumple shook his head mutely, “Then that’s the safest place for him to be. I don’t want him to try anything stupid. Why a garden gnome?”

She could tell he’d not been expecting that question. He frowned at the lawn ornament in his hands and then shrugged at her.

“It was going to be a snail, but you don’t like that, so this happened.”

He put the gnome on the workbench and stood nervously picking at his fingernails.

“What do you want Belle?”

She got to her feet slowly, and wondered where her shoes were. It didn’t matter; she covered the small distance barefoot and stood in front of him. She wanted to pull him into her arms, but she couldn’t yet. She knew the power her touch had on him and didn’t want to use that against him.

“I want us to be a family. The three of us together.”

He glanced at her belly, still flat for the moment, but where their child was growing. Belle braced herself, he might push her away, or he might say he needed time to think. He’d woken her with True Love’s Kiss, but that didn’t mean he believed they could make their marriage work. The tension was buzzing in her ears so loudly she almost missed his words when he quietly said; “A family?”

Her throat felt constricted, she couldn’t get any words out so she nodded. The doubt, the fear, the pain on his face broke her heart.

“Oh Belle, I want that. I do, but I won’t give up my power.”

“Good, because you wouldn’t be the man I love if you did.”

All the words she’d tried to use, the memories she’d let him see, the fact that he’d been the one to wake her, none of that had made her feelings as clear to him as that one sentence did. She didn’t want him to give up his power, she accepted that it was a part of him and loved him still. They moved forward together, her arms snaking around his neck as his found her waist. They lips met in a clumsy rush, but it was the perfect kiss. Eventually Rumple rested his forehead against hers.

“This isn’t going to be easy sweetheart. I’m going to make mistakes. I’ve never been a good husband.”

“I’ve never been a good wife. We’ll both make mistakes, but we’ll get through them together.”

“Together,” Rumple chuckled, “Mr and Mrs Gold against the world.”

“I like the sound of that.”

There was still so much they needed to talk about, to apologise for and to forgive, but in this rare quiet Storybrooke moment they were happy in each other’s arms.


	6. Chapter 6

Quiet moments in Storybrooke don’t last long. Belle was surprised that they’d managed to get through most of the meal Rumple had conjured for them before the shop door slammed open. Rumple swore under his breath.

“I’ll get rid of them, sweetheart.”

From the sound of the raised voice from the shop it was Emma who had ignored the closed sign again. Belle washed her mouthful of food down with a swig of soda and listened at the curtain for a few moments. What a surprise, the heroes were in trouble again. She slipped her feet into her shoes and pushed the curtain aside. 

Emma was in mid-flow, “…some sort of crystal. Now Henry’s trying to destroy… Belle, you’re awake.”

Belle didn’t respond until she taken Rumple’s hand. There was no change on his face, but she picked up the slight stiffening of his shoulders, he wasn’t sure what she was going to do. Best show him then.

“Rumple woke me, Emma.”

That the Saviour didn’t even try to hide her shock made Belle angry, before Emma had a chance to say anything Belle continued sweetly; “Are you here to black mail my husband again?”

Emma frowned and began to stammer; “I needed him to save Killian, and…”

Belle raised a hand to halt her; “I don’t give a damn about your reasons. I want you to understand that I will not be used as a pawn against Rumple. You want his help, you ask for it openly and honestly. You try to manipulate me or him ever again and you will be very, very sorry.”

“Are you threatening me, Belle?”

“No, I’m informing you of the new order and the consequences for ignoring it.”

Emma glared at Belle while Belle steadily met her eye. She had a moment of panic; she was facing down the Saviour, a woman who had powerful magic at her fingertips. Rumple shifted behind her ever so slightly. His presence at her shoulder relaxed her to the point she wondered if he was wrapping some of his magic around her. She didn’t mind at all, his support was exactly what she needed.

The hard frown on Emma’s face eased slightly and she shook her head; “Killian’s back so thank you for your help with that Gold, but Hades is in town now and he’s just killed Robin.”

Belle nodded slowly to mask her shock, she was upset about Robin’s death, but she would mourn the outlaw later, the God of the Underworld running around in town was more of a pressing concern for now. That bastard wanted their child; stopping him was vital, and Belle would use any tool at her disposal. After Emma’s grudging words of thanks it was clear that she was going to need prompting to follow the new rules.

“And you need Rumple’s help. Well you know what to do.”

Emma was clearly thrown off by Belle’s attitude. For a moment her face wavered between confusion and anger, it wasn’t a surprise that anger won out.

“I was hoping Gold would help because his grandson is in trouble. Henry left us a text saying he’s gone to destroy magic.”

To call that statement a request for help was stretching it a bit, but Belle was willing to acknowledge the effort, slight though it was. She turned to her husband; “Rumple do you think Henry needs your help?”

Rumple had been silent during the exchange between Belle and Emma, now he tilted his head to one side and looked at his wife for a long moment.

“Henry continually surprises me. I think he could manage anything on his own, but I rather he didn’t succeed on this occasion. I will help him, Belle.”

Belle gave him a business like nod and turned back to Emma with an overly cheery smile in place.

“We’ll help you, but you are going to tell us everything. If you try to keep anything from us then I will let Rumple add to our collection of garden gnomes.”

Emma frowned; “Garden gnomes?”

Rumple gave her an unsettling shark like grin; “Best not to ask, Miss Swan. I assume the loft is your base of operations?” Emma nodded, “We’ll join you there in twenty minutes.”

She made no move to leave until Rumple waved his hand at the door behind her. The door swung open and with a muttered “Fine!” Emma left.

The bell above the door chimed and there followed the metallic thunk as the lock snicked shut.

“Rumple, are you okay?”

The demeanour of the cold, harsh Dark One had faded once the door closed. Now he looked stunned and a little scared.

“You took my side against the Savour. You threatened her, with my magic.”

The reality of what she had done crashed done on her. Rumple’s magic was his own not hers to promise in any way. Fear gripped Belle, they had been doing so well and now she’d overstepped and messed everything up.

“Rumple I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to vouch for your magic; it’s up to you what you do, always. You can do whatever you want. I am so sorry I shouldn’t have assumed that I can use you as a threat against the heroes like that. Gods above I’m no better than them…”

Rumple put his index finger against her lips and Belle halted in her babbling.

“Sweetheart, my Belle. My magic is always at your beck and call.”

He traced his finger across her lips and down over her chin.

“You are my wife. You are my heart and soul. I am yours to command and the simple fact that you do that without the Dagger in your hand makes me your ever willing slave. Belle, I am so proud of you for standing up to Emma like that, it was amazing to watch, it was stunning and wonderful and I need you to kiss me now so I stop babbling…”

A relieved gurgle of laughter escaped Belle’s throat as she rose on tip toe to kiss her husband. 

“You are your own man Rumple.”

“Yes, I am, and I am your husband Belle.”

“And I am your wife.”

There was no need for any further explanation between the two of them. Rumplestiltskin, his dark magic, his loving heart, they were Belle’s and she would hold them dear and protect them for the rest of her days. Into his care she gave her heart, her courage, her bravery, her knowledge and they were his to command. Together they were more than the sum of their parts. Together they would face the world and all the trials and tribulations it threw in their path.

Storybrooke shuddered. Looking back on the days that followed the residents of the magical town in Maine attributed the shaking to the hand of Hades, not one of them thought that the True Love between the lady of Avonlea and the Dark One had shook the town on its foundations. After all what one among them would believe that the truest love in all the realms could be that of the Beauty and the Beast?

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I needed to give Belle a wake up call and I figured Lacey was the best person to talk some sense into her. Not expecting the show to go this way at all, but I think I might write the wake up kiss in this vein at some point.


End file.
